Flight: American Airlines 2189
From: Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) To: Belize City (BZE)

I was visiting a friend in Madison (WI) which was my last port of call in the USA before heading to Belize. Getting to Belize from Madison was going to be expensive so it was an ideal time to use my Qantas frequent flyer points. I had to call the Qantas help desk to book the ticket as the online service didn’t support the cities. This cost an extra 5000 points, but on the plus side I was able to build in a 48 hour stopover in Dallas and count it as the same flight.

There was availability for the Madison-Dallas leg, but the only option to Belize City was in business class. I had never flown business class and at the time of booking I was a little torn whether to book it. While I was pleased that it only cost another 5000 points to make the upgrade I felt that my first business class flight should be a longer flight.

In the end I figured that it was better to start off on a shorter flight so that I’m not completely ruined by the experience. Here are some of my notes on the flight.

Upon boarding I was served warmed nuts in a bowl. In actual crockery. Not made of plastic or in a bag. Welcome to the world of business class.

I was called Mr Clark, which is still a bit unsettling in this super-casual world we live in. Whenever I hear Mr Clark I keep thinking to look over my shoulder to see my dad. It’s a nice touch and the flight attendant was outstanding in service throughout the flight.

A moist towelette was also offered. While this is still a service available on some international economy services around the world I haven’t seen it on a US airline.

Lunchtime. My last international flight on AA was from London to New York and it was one of the worst inflight lunches I have had (basically it was a box of pre-packaged snacks). Here in business class, things got off to a good start with a big salad (with dessert).

From there things only got better when the main course of steak and mashed potatoes was served.

The coffee was ok (better than the mud they usually serve in economy), but I appreciated having a big coffee in a mug.

Overall it was a good taste of flying at the front of the plane. I obviously can’t compare it with other business class services but I will be doing my best to find out in the future